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15/07/2002
Government urged to intervene in pay strike threat
The government must intervene to prevent a one-day strike by council workers in several regions throughout the UK, the public service union, Unison, has said.
The strike by workers in Northern Ireland, England and Wales is due to take place on Wednesday and will affect education, social services, residential care, home care, environmental health, housing, planning, transport, refuse collection, catering and cleaning.
Workers are demanding a pay rise of 6%, twice what their employers have offered.
Unison National Secretary for Local Government, Heather Wakefield, said: “While the employers bury their heads in the sand, there is a retention and recruitment crisis in local government which is getting worse. This is having a detrimental effect on services and staff, who are having to work more unpaid overtime and cope with growing staff shortages.
“The employers should be left in no doubt that our industrial action will continue until they return with a realistic offer.”
Last month, more than 1.4 million local government workers voted for a series of one-day stoppages, with the first scheduled for Wednesday July 17.
If the stoppages go ahead, they will be the first national council workers' strikes since the 1979 Winter of Discontent that helped bring down the Labour government.
(MB)
The strike by workers in Northern Ireland, England and Wales is due to take place on Wednesday and will affect education, social services, residential care, home care, environmental health, housing, planning, transport, refuse collection, catering and cleaning.
Workers are demanding a pay rise of 6%, twice what their employers have offered.
Unison National Secretary for Local Government, Heather Wakefield, said: “While the employers bury their heads in the sand, there is a retention and recruitment crisis in local government which is getting worse. This is having a detrimental effect on services and staff, who are having to work more unpaid overtime and cope with growing staff shortages.
“The employers should be left in no doubt that our industrial action will continue until they return with a realistic offer.”
Last month, more than 1.4 million local government workers voted for a series of one-day stoppages, with the first scheduled for Wednesday July 17.
If the stoppages go ahead, they will be the first national council workers' strikes since the 1979 Winter of Discontent that helped bring down the Labour government.
(MB)
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Government Workers To Strike
Local government workers across Northern Ireland are planning a two-day strike this week starting on Wednesday over pay. The Unite union has called on assembly members and councillors to join the picket lines and support striking workers in England and Wales.
Government Workers To Strike
Local government workers across Northern Ireland are planning a two-day strike this week starting on Wednesday over pay. The Unite union has called on assembly members and councillors to join the picket lines and support striking workers in England and Wales.
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